1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for producing a medical device having structural elements or a device having structural elements, to a method for modifying the surface of a medical device or of a device having structural elements, to a medical device having a sharp-edged structure and a laminated composite having a substrate.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Medical devices, for example stents, typically have complex structures on account of which the medical device achieves particularly high flexibility. Flexibility enables conveying in the catheter and positioning of the device within a hollow organ of the body. Flexibility furthermore facilitates the behavior of the medical device in tightly curved vessels. Various methods are used for manufacturing medical devices of this type, in particular for the structure. Apart from braiding wire elements, the devices are also cut from a solid material by laser methods. Furthermore, US 2002/0091438 A1 discloses utilization of an etching method for forming the structures. Here, structures are generated by forming voids in a thin material plate. The voids here are formed by the etching method.
In the method described in US 2002/0091438 A1, a tube is initially covered by a uniformly thick photoresist layer. The photoresist is subsequently cured by UV light in those regions in which the webs of the medical device to be produced, for example of the stent, are disposed. The cured photoresist thus depicts the later structure of the stent. In the following step, the coated tube is submerged for a specific period of time in a bath containing a solvent. The non-cured points of the photoresist layer are released in the solvent, so that the material of the tube becomes visible again in those regions. The exposed points of the tube are removed in a subsequent electrochemical etching process. Thus, only the webs of the stent, which are covered with the cured photoresist, remain.